District 300 parents want old bus routes back

Concerned parents have again implored Community Unit Community Unit District 300 school board members to reconsider changes that were made to bus routes in and around the Cambridge Lakes subdivision in Pingree Grove.

About a half-dozen parents addressed school board members at Monday's school board meeting, voicing their concerns for the safety of their children who are now forced to wait for the bus on a busy roadway that dissects the subdivision. Dozens of other parents attended in support, forcing the district to relocate the meeting to the Carpenter Middle School auditorium.

And this time, parents had backup from Police Chief Carol Lussky.

Parents said the board's decision to consolidate some bus stops in an effort to make routes more efficient creates major safety issues for children. The district moved most of the stops from side streets to Wester Boulevard - the major road that goes through Cambridge Lakes.

Many said buses often stop for 25 minutes to load as many as 45 students onto a bus, causing traffic backups.

"All this is doing is creating a chaotic situation all in the name of a budget cut," said Christy Blohm, a parent who called the changes inconceivable and a display of gross negligence.

"A budget cut is never an excuse to put any child in danger," Blohm said.

In addition, Lussky said the buses could impede a public safety call because there is no way for a police car, fire truck or ambulance to maneuver around a stopped bus on Wester Boulevard. The boulevard, with its ornamental plants and the curved road, makes it difficult to see from one end to the other, increasing the risk for a head-on collision.

Lussky suggested the school board move routes back into the neighborhoods and off the main road.